


Sleepy

by starstruck_xavier



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Medication, Sleepy Virgil, Tumblr Prompt, Virgil has Anxiety, all the sides help virgil throughout the day and it's v cute, anxiety attack, anxiety medication, inspired by a tumblr post, lamp can be seen as platonic or romantic, light angst? guess?, romance is not implied, stop making anxiety meds hurt virgil 2k20, virgil has anxiety attacks, virgil is a sleepy babey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24497689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starstruck_xavier/pseuds/starstruck_xavier
Summary: Inspired by this tumblr post: https://justtrashperson.tumblr.com/post/619548696231706624/000-pls-tag-me-tootumblr users @harmonious-honeycomb and @justtrashperson i hope you like this! <33When Thomas takes his anxiety medication, it makes Virgil sleepy. Nothing too bad, he just becomes a sleepy babey.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton
Comments: 5
Kudos: 238





	Sleepy

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you like this! my tumblr is @starstruck-xavier so pls talk to me there! i post fanart and theories and i'd love to make more friends in the fandom.
> 
> tw: virgil's anxiety attack is described from his point of view but he's all okay in the end.

Virgil was going to be on edge all day.

It never had to be for any reason in particular, but it would’ve made it easier to tackle the anxious tremors from the core if Virgil actually had something to say when each side came to him throughout the day asking “What’s wrong?”. First, it had been Logan, ever observant, who found Virgil sat on the counter next to the coffee machine in the morning, noting how his makeup looked just a little more intense than usual and how his hands trembled slightly around his favourite mug.

“Is that your first coffee, Virgil?” Logan asked gently, willing the coffee machine to not be as loud as usual while he made his own.

“Uh, yeah.” The nervous trait took a hesitant sip of his drink; he suddenly found it rather difficult to maintain eye contact. “Why do you ask?”

Logan kept an eye on the underlying shakiness of the ball of nerves in front of him. “You seem particularly anxious today. Is anything troubling you?”

And then Virgil thought. He’d woken up feeling a pit of nervousness in the bottom of his stomach, but that was the usual for him as the embodiment of anxiety itself, so he hadn’t given it a second thought. However, the longer he pondered, the more he realised the feeling had worsened, but there was no particular thing bothering him. Virgil racked his brains desperately for an answer but still came up empty.

Upon not receiving a response, Logan placed one hand on the counter, just close enough to Virgil in case he wanted to take it. “Virge?”

Virgil snapped out of his train of thought. “Oh, I… I don’t know. I just feel like something really bad’s gonna happen.” He spoke in his usual whisper-grumble as he stared at the half-empty mug in his hands.

“It’s normal for you to feel that way, Virgil.” Logan finally took his own mug from the coffee machine, setting it on the counter to let it cool. “However, I can assure you that as long as everyone works together today to make Thomas’ day productive and happy, there’s a very small chance that something terrible will happen. Try to let that reassure you.” He spoke softly, watching Virgil with care as if he were a fragile sculpture. “Even if you still feel nervous, that’s okay. Would you like me to let everyone else know so that we don’t accidentally scare you?”

After a few seconds, Virgil hummed in affirmation. “Thanks, Logan.” He didn’t need to smile to convey his thankfulness, and Logan understood.

“No problem. Try to take it easy today, and remember the breathing techniques.” The logical trait picked up his mug and gave Virgil a reassuring glance before pausing. “Do you want me to accompany you for a little longer?”

Virgil quickly drank the rest of his coffee and set the mug aside. “I— I don’t mind.” He bit back his smile. Logan always knew just what to do without making a huge deal out of it, likely learning from past experiences of nervous days like this. It was those little things he always remembered that put Virgil at ease.

They both sat in silence for a few more minutes. The quiet was nice; Virgil was starting to wake up fully and Logan got to savour these few moments of peace before Roman and Patton inevitably started making noise. Not that either of them minded this, but they often missed the quiet, serene mornings. While it didn’t lower Virgil’s anxiety levels, however, it kept them at a constant, which was at least better than panicking so early in the morning and distressing Thomas.

It was a couple of hours later, after breakfast, that Virgil knew this would be a tough day for himself and Thomas.

Logan had told Patton and Roman to keep it down today, and they’d never object to something that would make Virgil feel better, so the quietness and soft smiles followed them all throughout the mind palace. As opposed to bursting into song and dance at any moment, Roman hummed to himself pleasantly as he made his way around and Patton tried his best not to skip around noisily or appear out of nowhere. In fact, it was Patton who chanced upon the anxious side as he sat on the couch in the common room, looking more troubled than before.

“Hey, kiddo.” He called, not too loud, as he made his way over to sit next to him. “How are you feeling?”

Virgil looked up from his phone with a sad look on his face. “Hi, Pat. I’m…” He started to pull at his sleeves absentmindedly with a sigh. “Anxious.”

Patton watched, looking concerned. “Do you want a hug?” He held out his arms, allowing Virgil to lean into his touch. “It’s all gonna be okay, Virge.” The nervous trait breathed shakily in Patton’s embrace as he let the warm feeling distract him from the growing pit of dread within him.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Thomas was taking deep breaths.

He knew that bad days could happen without much reason, so he didn’t want to trouble Virgil too much by summoning him, knowing that he was probably having just as bad a day as him. Still, he wanted to ask for Virgil’s permission before taking the anxiety medication that sat on the shelf, waiting for these nervous spikes. They could make the nervous trait feel quite sleepy, nothing too bad, but if Virgil suddenly started feeling tired he’d be confused and a little scared himself. Thomas didn’t want to do that to him without letting him know first; he’d wait until he felt a dose was more needed, though, as it didn’t feel like his anxiety had peaked yet.

That would come another few hours later.

Since no one was doing much that day, it allowed for Patton and Virgil to cuddle for quite some time. At some point, Patton had turned on Adventure Time on the television and Virgil was trying to focus on it, but he just couldn’t seem to shake the feeling of his heart rate increasing until he couldn’t even try to ignore it. A sense of dread overwhelmed him and he didn’t even know why, or how, or for how long. He found himself looking around, vigilant for any signs of danger, completely blocking out the fact that any possible monsters or end-of-the-world scenarios would be imaginary and could be conjured away.

“Virge?” Patton’s voice cut through the chaos, redirecting Virgil’s eyes to his. “Breathe in, kiddo.”

Virgil attempted to hold his breath, but his lungs short-circuited; the air came rushing out again and back in, back out, too fast…

“Hey, hey, Virgil. Look at me, bud.” He opened his eyes, not remembering when he’d even closed them. Patton’s worried face looked hazy before him. “It’s all gonna be okay, yeah?” His voice sounded like static. Virgil tried to bring the air into his lungs again, only holding on for a second before it escaped him again.

Suddenly, more voices could be heard around him.

“Patton, we need to tell Thomas to take his medication.”

“Roman, please can you stay with Virge?”

“Virgil, it’s me, Roman. can you look at me?”

Virgil had his eyes squeezed shut again, feeling lost as soon as Patton’s touch left him, but then almost immediately he felt a different pair of hands in his hair. On his hands. When did his hands start gripping at his hair? The hands softly squeezed his own until he let go of his locks.

“Take a deep breath in. I’ll count for you, okay?” A familiar voice reached his ringing ears. He could feel a heartbeat under his hands - his eyes opened once again to reveal Roman coming into focus. The prince had kneeled down on the floor in front of Virgil and pressed his hands against his own chest, letting him feel his sash and how his chest expanded and contracted so easily. He gasped the air into his lungs, a little faster than Roman’s counting, but managed to hold his breath for just a little longer than last time before it all rushed out. “Can you hear me, stormcloud?” Roman spoke clearly in his attempt to get Virgil to respond. The nervous trait nodded, still visibly shaking and breathing raggedly. “Do you know where you are?”

“The—“ Virgil stammered breathlessly, blinking rapidly in order to keep focus. He barely acknowledged his tempest tongue. “The mind palace?”

Roman nodded calmly. “That’s right, you’re in the common room. You’re having an anxiety attack. Can you take a couple more deep breaths?”

Virgil breathed in as deeply as he could until his lungs couldn’t expand any further. He held his breath while Roman counted to seven, then successfully exhaled slowly until he’d counted to eight. As opposed to the royal trait’s usual boisterous, loud theatrics, his voice sounded quiet and focussed. He held Virgil’s hands gently and directed him through his breathing in a way that released the tension from his shoulders. After a few minutes, he sighed deeply, suddenly feeling rather drowsy.

“Are you okay, Virge?” Roman let go of Virgil’s hands but touched his own to the anxious side’s knees.

“Mm,” He hunched over and stifled a yawn. “Sleepy.”

He registered Roman’s fond smile. “Patton and Logan went to talk to Thomas. He must’ve taken his anxiety meds by now, so you’ll be getting sleepy.”

As if on cue, Patton and Logan rose up again in Virgil’s peripheral. Patton rushed over to sit next to him while Logan stood by Roman’s side, seemingly monitoring for any symptoms other than the sudden decrease in energy. Just in case.

“How are you feeling, kiddo?” Patton watched Virgil’s eyes droop slightly, then force themselves back open.

“He’s tired already.” Roman answered for him. “Maybe he’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

Logan smiled slightly at the remark. “He definitely will. Thank you for calming him down, Roman.”

Patton hummed in agreement. Roman looked bashful but proud of himself as he rubbed calming circles into Virgil’s knees with his thumbs.

“No problem, specs.”

The four of them spent the rest of the day together, picking up where Virgil and Patton had left off watching Adventure Time. Logan didn’t seem entirely interested and was frankly confused by the cartoon logic, but Virgil had ended up with his legs across those of the logical trait, so he didn’t want to disturb him by leaving. Besides, it brought him peace to know that Virgil wasn’t mentally suffering any longer. The rest of Virgil’s body laid across Roman with his head in Patton’s lap, not feeling like he was actually going to fall asleep just yet but still looking like he was on the brink of slumber. Occasionally Roman would tease him on how cuddly he got when he was tired, and Virgil would shoot back with his usual retorts, only hindered by the lethargic slur of his words. Patton found himself carding his hands through Virgil’s soft hair after some time, and Logan couldn’t help but run his hands up and down his legs for additional comfort. Meanwhile, Roman held one of his hands in his own. It felt wonderful. No one could blame him when he eventually dozed off like this, his quiet breaths barely heard over the low volume of the television, earning fond looks between Logan, Patton and Roman.

Sometimes Virgil would wake up feeling panicked for no particular reason, but it was all okay as long as he got to fall asleep like this in the end.


End file.
